Los Angeles history

June 13, 1958

June 13, 2008 | 7:45
am

ow here's an interesting way to beat traffic, at least if you're Judge Leo Freund. It seems that Freund didn't care for being stuck while big dump trucks building the San Diego Freeway used Santa Monica Boulevard.

Freund decided that Benjamin Frank White was doing a poor job stopping traffic at the construction site. So he complained to police. Officers put White under surveillance, then complained to his boss, Robert Check, who fired White that day.

White's fellow members of Laborers Union, Local 300, complained that Check was being unfair. Finally, someone called Judge Freund, who said he didn't want White fired; he just thought the man was doing a lousy job. So White got his job back -- at a different location.

Judge Leo Freund died Sept. 29, 1976, but was reelected to the bench because the ballots had already been printed. He was replaced by Nancy M. Brown. Email me